


Three Hundred...and Two

by Willibald



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Other, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-10
Updated: 2018-04-10
Packaged: 2019-04-21 05:53:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14278305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Willibald/pseuds/Willibald
Summary: A series of anomolies result in the Waverider's crew scattered across time with two facing the threat of being stranded in ancient Greece.





	Three Hundred...and Two

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cherryontop](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherryontop/gifts).



Ray Palmer looked over the coastal plain as the _Waverider_ lifted off and cloaked behind him. Ahead lay the pass of Thermopylae and the massed tents of the combined Greek army. With mountains to the north and south and a swampy floodplain to the east this was the only pass from Thessaly into southern Greece, and it was here that Leonidas I of Sparta was determined to hold back the advance of the Persians.

 

"Hey Haircut," the call broke Palmer's reverie, "do we really have to wear skirts for this?"

Mick Rory was dressed in a saffron chiton with a breastplate that looked like bronze but was actually a high tensile ceramic. He wore a sword on his left hip and carried a shield and helmet of the same material as his cuirass, and all of his armour was decorated with a flame motif. The heat gun hung on his right hip.

"I think it suits you. Besides we can't look too out of place, even if we are pretending to be gods."

Ray was wearing the Atom suit with a red chiton over the top. Small wings had been added to the heels of his boots.

"Just don't get any ideas."

Ray shook his head and led the way towards Leonidas' camp.

 

Time was fracturing. Anomalies were becoming more frequent with three divergent timelines vying to become dominant. In 1812 Napoleon's summer campaign into Russia had led to the sack of Moscow. The 1947 Dominator invasion had led to the enslavement of mankind. And in Ancient Greece...

 

"This place stinks!" Mick complained for the eighth time as the pair followed the river toward the camp. "And the water's warm and tastes foul."

"That would be the sulphur springs. They thought the entrance to the Underworld was around here, as you would have known if you'd bothered to read the briefing." The heat was making Ray irritable as, needless to say, his suit's cooling system had stopped working. "We need to find out how the Spartans held the pass against Xerxes for so long and do what we can to return things to normal"

"I know." Mick grumbled. "It still stinks though."

 

In this timeline the Persians were never able to outflank Leonidas' much smaller force. After weeks of stalemate their supply lines collapsed and the army revolted. Xerxes was killed and his replacement, Mardonius sued for peace. The resulting Greco-Persian Empire far exceeded that of Rome and three hundred years earlier. If Ray and Mick couldn't reverse this then the future they knew, the _Waverider_ and the Legends would never happen and they would be stranded.

 

"Halt! Who are you and state your business!"

A military challenge, refreshingly the same across the world and throughout history. Ray took to the air and hovered just out of reach of the hoplites' spears.

"Greetings, noble warriors. I am Ray, servant to Apollo and this is... Mickos who tends the Methana volcano for Hephaestus." On cue Mick fired the heat gun over the heads of the soldiers who prostrated themselves before the two 'gods'. "We have come from Olympus to meet with King Leonidas. Take us to your leader!"

 

Leonidas proved to be every bit as imposing as his reputation suggested. He was heavy set like a wrestler, with rugged looks framed by short trimmed brown hair and beard. He was studying maps with his generals when Ray and Mick were brought before him.

"Hail! King of Sparta. The gods send you greetings as you prepare to battle the barbarians."

Loenidas laid his sword across the chart he had been studying to keep it unrolled and regarded the two newcomers. "And you are?"

"Ray, servant of Helios and Apollo and Mickos of the Methana volcano, sire."

Leonidas looked them up and down and nodded thoughtfully. "And the gods will grant us victory?"

"Your actions here will ensure that Greece never falls to Xerxes and your name will be remembered for eternity."

"Good enough. Deophilus" he bellowed to one of his generals, "have quarters prepared for our guests."

Before the man could obey there was a commotion at the tent door. A group of hoplites entered dragging a beaten man.

"Well?" asked Leonidas.

"Sire, this man, Ephialtes the Trachinian, sought to betray us to the Persians. He was overheard saying that he would soon have a rich reward from Xerxes himself. We followed him and when he tried to leave camp by the pass guarded by the Phocians. We intercepted him and beat a confession out of him. He meant to bring their army over the pass to surround us."

Leonidas grabbed the man by the chin pulling him close. "Is this true?"

Ephialtes spat in the king's face, there was blood in the spittle. Enraged, Leonidas grabbed his sword from the table, scattering the battle plans and charts, and thrust it between Ephialtes' ribs. The man coughed blood and dropped to his knees. Then he silently slid off of Leonidas' sword and dropped to the ground in a growing pool of gore.

"And that's how the timeline changes" thought Ray.

 

Deophilus took the two Legends to an empty tent near the centre of the camp. Once he was gone, Ray turned to Mick who had sprawled out on one of the large beds provided and was helping himself to the grapes and wine that had been put out for them.

"We need to get word to Xerxes about the pass if we're ever going to get time back on course."

"Uh huh," grunted Mick around a mouthful of grapes. "You should try this wine, it's not bad."

"Are you listening to what I said?"

"Yeh, tell Xerxes. We just walk out of here without disturbing the Greek army and pay a visit to the enemy king. Then we come back here before they all wake up and pretend to be good little gods while they all get slaughtered around us."

"Well I wouldn't have put it quite like that but essentially..."

Mick took a swig from the wineskin while Ray stood lost in thought. Then he grabbed the skin and took a deep swallow. When he had finished choking he handed it back to his partner.

"I'll have to go. If I shrink down I can get passed the guards unseen. If I take a chiton with me I can disguise myself as Ephialtes, talk to Xerxes and get back before I'm missed. You'll just have to cover for me if Leonidas wants us for anything."

 

Flying around the camp as the Atom, Ray was able to acquire a suitable costume that he could shrink down to take with him. He had just returned to finalise things with Mick when the tent flap opened and Leonidas walked in with servants carrying trays of delicacies and a pitcher of wine.

 "I have some special treats for my honoured guests from Olympus. What? Have you been left to face the Persians alone?"

"No, your majesty." called the Atom sized Ray from behind a tent pole. "I'm still here. Um. It's just that being of the sun I fade when it gets dark. I will be fully restored when Helios drives his chariot forth in the morning."

"Well that makes sense" said Leonidas.

"It does?" muttered Mick.

"I trust you will still be able to enjoy my gifts in your present state."

"I'm sure I will, your majesty. And you have Olympus' thanks for being such a gracious host."

Leonidas bowed in the direction of the voice and bid his servants to set down their burdens. Once he had left, Ray resumed his normal size and helped himself to a stuffed vine leaf. He reached into a pocket of his suit and produced a silver ball which he threw into the air. It hovered behind the tent pole where Ray had been hiding earlier.

"Coms device." he explained between mouthfuls. "I got it from Curtis last time we were in Star City. I can talk to Leonidas if he comes back or you can warn me if there are any other developments."

"Okay." Mick nodded as he bit into some sort of goat meat pasty.

Ray took another sweetmeat from the tray, ate it and shrank down.

"Save me some of that wine. I think I'll need it when I get back."

 

***

 

Ray woke the next morning with a sore head and sore nether regions. He was naked in bed with a naked Mick Rory's arm across his chest. He carefully extricated himself from the embrace while Mick snored on, sat up and tried to remember.

Then he tried to forget.

He was starting to get dressed when Leonidas burst in waking Mick who sat up with a start.

"You're awake and back to normal, good! It looks like you enjoyed the aphrodisiacs I sent you."

"Aphro..."

"Yes. To get you ready for battle. A man might risk his life for his friend, but for a lover, he would be willing to die in his place."

Ray risked a sideways glance at Mick who was pulling on his chiton.

"But I have grave news, my friends." Leonidas continued, "There are reports of a large Persian force coming through the goat trail that leads behind our camp. It seems that Ephialtes had already worked his treason before we captured him. They will surround us and overwhelm us." There was no bitterness in his voice, only resignation. "I need you to make a great sacrifice."

"Sacrifice?"

"I know you came here to fight alongside us but I beg you to reconsider. This is a fight we cannot win. As the Oracle predicted, if Sparta joined this war then either the kingdom or the king would be lost. I will die here with my Spartans, but their sons shall live to avenge them and we shall make Xerxes pay dearly for this day."

"But what I ask of you is hard. The bulk of this army will retreat while we fight. I know this is a lot to ask, but go with them. Protect their rear so that they may rejoin the armies of Athens and the other states to continue the fight. Will you do this? Renounce glory for the greater good of Greece?"

"If that is your majesty's wish" answered Ray, trying not to sound too grateful.

"Then go. The armies prepare to leave as we speak and my Spartans prepare to die. But we shall die with glory!"

 

***

 

Later, on the _Waverider_.

"Haircut! It didn't happen!"

"No, the battle went the way it should and Gideon says that history is back on course."

"No. IT didn't happen!"

"It... Oh IT. No, that never happened."

The two men stood in awkward silence for a while.

"Only, Haircut..."

"Yes?"

"If you ever want it to not happen again... You know where my room is."

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I don't normally write slash in any form but couldn't resist sending Ray and Mick to join the Spartans for an intense (in tents) experience with the promiss of more to come.


End file.
